Bryan W. Alaspa 1On being a jinx
July 25th 2009 19:45
It is a known fact among my friends that I am a confirmed jinx. This became especially apparent during the Chicago Bulls first “three-peat” NBA Championship run. Whenever I would get together with my friends and we would watch the games, if I was sitting in the room with them, the Bulls would start to screw up and start losing. If I was then banished to another room and forbidden to watch the game, the Bulls would come back. The exciting last-second shot that won them their third championship in a row? Yeah, I didn’t get to see that live. I was watching a movie downstairs.
The same thing pops up when it comes to baseball. I do not watch every Chicago White Sox game. When they were making their historic run through the playoffs in 2005, I did not watch or listen to many of the games. Only if they were well ahead or it seemed likely that they were going to win would I tune in. The final game of the World Series was especially trying for me.
Once again I was invited over to my friend’s home. These were the same guys I used to watch the Bulls games with. The game ended up being a real nail-biter. That season the White Sox had won their first game of the season by a score of 1-0 and it looked like they were going to win the championship by the same score. They scored their one run and then things got tense, again and again and again.
Once again, I was banished. This time, it was a different house. So, I was sent upstairs where I sat on the stairs leading to the second floor reading a story in Rolling Stone Magazine about a kid who was smuggling drugs as a teenager. It was a good story, but I missed the amazing catch in the stands by Jermain Dye that helped with the game. I missed the last pitches by Bobby Jenks. I was only welcomed back downstairs when it was the last out and seemed likely that it was going to happen.
So, I was not watching when the pitcher Mark Buehrle pitched his perfect game just this past week. I would like to say “you’re welcome” to the other Sox fans in the audience out there. It is a thankless job being a jinx and doing what you can to help your team win. I never got a pendant or a watch or a ring for helping them win the World Series by staying on the stairs, and I doubt Mr. Buehrle will be buying me a gift for being gracious enough not to watch or listen to his game this past week.
I do what I can. I was watching the Chicago Bears the last time they made it to the Super Bowl and look what happened. It is hard to know if I had spent that game hiding on the stairs if the outcome might have been different. I watched the Super Bowl the year they won, so the effect I seem to have on football is different than basketball or baseball, apparently.
Sometimes you just have to admit what you are and learn to deal with it. Sure, I would love to believe I am good luck and could help my team win. Past experience shows that the moment I turn the game on, one of the outfielders is likely to drop the ball. Wise, the centerfielder, would likely have dropped that amazing catch that robbed a home run and preserved the perfect game had I tuned in just then.
So, I will continue to do my best to ignore and talk against my team. The more savagely I criticize them and the more I ignore them, the better they seem to do. I will do so silently. But, should the White Sox make it into the post-season again this year, you will now know who to secretly thank.
You’re welcome.
The same thing pops up when it comes to baseball. I do not watch every Chicago White Sox game. When they were making their historic run through the playoffs in 2005, I did not watch or listen to many of the games. Only if they were well ahead or it seemed likely that they were going to win would I tune in. The final game of the World Series was especially trying for me.
Once again I was invited over to my friend’s home. These were the same guys I used to watch the Bulls games with. The game ended up being a real nail-biter. That season the White Sox had won their first game of the season by a score of 1-0 and it looked like they were going to win the championship by the same score. They scored their one run and then things got tense, again and again and again.
Once again, I was banished. This time, it was a different house. So, I was sent upstairs where I sat on the stairs leading to the second floor reading a story in Rolling Stone Magazine about a kid who was smuggling drugs as a teenager. It was a good story, but I missed the amazing catch in the stands by Jermain Dye that helped with the game. I missed the last pitches by Bobby Jenks. I was only welcomed back downstairs when it was the last out and seemed likely that it was going to happen.
So, I was not watching when the pitcher Mark Buehrle pitched his perfect game just this past week. I would like to say “you’re welcome” to the other Sox fans in the audience out there. It is a thankless job being a jinx and doing what you can to help your team win. I never got a pendant or a watch or a ring for helping them win the World Series by staying on the stairs, and I doubt Mr. Buehrle will be buying me a gift for being gracious enough not to watch or listen to his game this past week.
I do what I can. I was watching the Chicago Bears the last time they made it to the Super Bowl and look what happened. It is hard to know if I had spent that game hiding on the stairs if the outcome might have been different. I watched the Super Bowl the year they won, so the effect I seem to have on football is different than basketball or baseball, apparently.
Sometimes you just have to admit what you are and learn to deal with it. Sure, I would love to believe I am good luck and could help my team win. Past experience shows that the moment I turn the game on, one of the outfielders is likely to drop the ball. Wise, the centerfielder, would likely have dropped that amazing catch that robbed a home run and preserved the perfect game had I tuned in just then.
So, I will continue to do my best to ignore and talk against my team. The more savagely I criticize them and the more I ignore them, the better they seem to do. I will do so silently. But, should the White Sox make it into the post-season again this year, you will now know who to secretly thank.
You’re welcome.
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